Knights fall just short; Majors split weekend; FC women drop to 5th

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (May 21-27) — for London’s teams and athletes.

(Photo: Eric Young / CHL).

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London Knights

Oh, so close. The Memorial cup wrapped up Sunday night, and the London Knights fell just short, losing 4-3 on a last-minute goal by the host Saginaw Spirit.

First, though, the Knights went a perfect 3-0 in round-robin play. And they did so against the same Spirit squad. Following wins against Drummondville (4-0) and Moose Jaw (5-4), London took down their OHL foes, the Spirit, by a 4-2 margin last Wednesday to earn an automatic trip to the Memorial Cup Final.

Down 1-0 in the first period, Kasper Halttunen tied the game with a powerplay goal (assisted by Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey). London took the lead in the second period with Barkey scoring his first of the tournament at the 10:40 mark. The Spirit didn’t go down without a fight, as they tied the game one last time, scoring less than four minutes later. But Cowan came through with the game winner with 1:25 left in regulation. And then he added an empty netter for good measure. The win put London into the finals, and they awaited the winner of a Moose Jaw-Saginaw semi-final.

Saginaw was successful in that semi, and on Sunday night the Spirit hosted a rematch against London on their home ice. This time, the Knights came out flat, and the Spirit up a 3-0 lead. London managed just one shot on goal until Kasper Halttunen got the Knights on the board scoring at the 9:45 mark of the second period. And then London made it really interesting in the third, as Easton Cowan scored to bring them within one. Sam Dickinson followed minutes later with a game-tying goal, and the momentum shifted. But just as the game looked like it was headed to overtime, Saginaw scored with just 22 seconds left. They earned the win and the 2024 Memorial Cup.  

London Majors

The Majors split a pair of games last week — with a third, a scheduled game vs. Chatham-Kent on Sunday, postponed due to rainy weather and poor field conditions.

Taking on the Brantford Red Sox last Friday, London won a high-scoring affair, 11-7. Daniel Gore got the start for London, and he struggled to throw strikes. The right-hander walked seven while allowing two runs in just 3 1/3 innings of work. He gave up three hits and struck out three. London got off to a strong start offensively, scoring four runs in 2nd inning. Champ Garner got things going with an RBI double, and Starling Joseph later brought in three with a bases-clearing double.

London had another big inning in the 5th when they scored another three runs to extend their lead, at the time, to 9-2. Garner drove in two of the runs, while Ty Mosher singled in the other. The Red Sox scored four in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to make a comeback. Tommy Reyes-Cruz finished the night 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Skylar Janisse, Jonathan Henry and Braeden Ferrington limited Brantford to two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings of relief.

On Saturday, the Majors came up short in Welland, losing 6-5 on a walk-off bases-loaded walk to the Jackfish on the road. London got off to a strong start with Victor Plaz opening the scoring in the top of the 2nd inning with an RBI single. Champ Garner had an RBI single of his own to put London ahead 2-0. The Majors extended their lead in the fifth with a bases loaded walk and a single to go up 4-0. But the Jackfish responded with a big bottom half of the inning, getting all four runs back to tie things up.

The teams traded runs in the 7th, and then Welland got the last laugh with a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. Victor Payano, pitching in relief, issued the walk — his only free pass in four innings out of the bullpen. Travis Keys, who started the game for London, allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven. Kaiden Cardoso had a 2-for-4 day at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.

Up next:

The Majors (6-2) play Thursday and then twice more on the weekend, including a Friday contest at home.

Thurs. June 6 (7:30pm vs. Kitchener Panthers)
Fri. June 7 (7:35pm vs. Barrie Baycats)
Sun. June 9 (3:05pm @ Barrie Baycats)

FC London

Women

The Women’s team lost once and played to a draw in a second match last week, bringing their record to 3-3-1 and dropping them in the standings to to a tie for fifth place. First up, on Wednesday, they tied Vaughan Azzurri, 1-1, on the road. Down 1-0, FC London’s Jade Abreo tied things up in the 60th minute. Neither team scored after that. On Saturday, again on the road, the women lost 3-0 to North Toronto. They’ll play a rematch against the Azzurri, this time at home, on Sunday.

Up next: 

Sun. June 9 (5:00pm vs. Vaughan Azzurri)

Men

The Men improved their record to 5-1-0 last Saturday with a 1-0 road win over TFC Academy. After a scoreless first half, Bai Essa Coker gave London the lead, scoring in the 47th minute. From there, London held on with Luka Palajsa earning a clean sheet in net. On Wednesday, FC London played a League1 Cup contest — but the match was postponed at halftime due to weather conditions with FC London ahead 1-0 (on a goal by Coker in the 19th minute). The match will be finished at a later date.

Up next:

Sat. June 8 (8:45pm vs. Darby FC)